[Validation of the Acoustic Voice Quality Index in the Russian language]. / Validatsiya akusticheskogo indeksa kachestva golosa (the Acoustic Voice Quality Index) dlya russkogo yazyka.

THE AIM: Of this study was to validate the Acoustic Voice Quality Index (AVQI) in Russian language and determine threshold values to differentiate normal and dysphonic voices in russophone population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 41 recordings of patients with laryngeal hemiplegia and hemiparesis appeared after thyroid carcinomas' surgical treatment and laryngeal cancer from the Tomsk Cancer Research Institute were used, as well as 10 new recordings of normophonic people, composing a control group. Voice samples included the first quatrain of the poem «Sail¼ written by M.Yu. Lermontov, and sustained vowel «a¼. Four specialists who work with voice disorders (three speech-language pathologists and one phoniatrist) rated degree of dysphonia for all voice sample. Moreover, the AVQI was calculated for each sample. RESULTS: There was a statistically significant correlation between auditory-perceptual assessment and the AVQI (r=0.74), this confirms that AVQI is effective in evaluating voice disorders. The group of people with normal voice had relatively low values of AVQI, whereas the group of patients with laryngeal diseases had relatively high values. Analysis of ROC-curve showed that AVQI has excellent diagnostic accuracy to differentiate normal and dysphonic voices (AUC=0.966). CONCLUSIONS: The AVQI is the excellent tool for objective assessment of voice disorders in the Russian population/.

[The treatment of exacerbations of chronic laryngitis in the vocal professionals].

UNLABELLED: The objective of the present study was to develop a method for the AIM: comprehensive and uniform evaluation of the results of the treatment of vocal professionals experiencing exacerbations of chronic laryngitis under effect of physical factors. We propose the system of quantitative gradation of the main clinical and functional characteristics that should be taken into consideration for the assessment of the health status of the patients presenting with exacerbations of chronic laryngitis. In addition, the aggregate health index was calculated the dynamics of which can be used to estimate the results of the treatment. The quantitative criteria were developed for the expert evaluation of the temporary incapacity for work in the vocal professionals experiencing exacerbations of chronic laryngitis. It is concluded that the proposed approach can be employed by otorhinolaryngologists, phoniatrists, physiatrists, and developers of new technologies for the treatment of exacerbations of chronic laryngitis. Moreover, it is recommended for the application in out-patient and in-patient healthcare facilities, centresof restorative and rehabilitative medicine, medical research and development institutions.